Two more films that premiered at the SXSW festival to great buzz follow Ready Player One [RDYP1] in opening wide this weekend. Real-life couple John Krasinski [JKRAS] and Emily Blunt [EBLUN] star in the post-apocalyptic horror A Quiet Place [AQPLC]. The PG-13 rated film has a unique concept with an easy hook, which Paramount has effectively conveyed in its marketing. Audiences are eager for a good scary movie and the reviews for A Good Place have been universally excellent. Advance ticket sales are going briskly. Playing in 3508 theaters, A Quiet Place could bang out $33 million.
Ready Player One connected with its mostly male fanbase, but will have to expand its audience if it were to have legs at the box office. With the Thursday opening taking some of the fronloadedness from last weekend, Ready Player One may be able to hold 50% in its second play-through and score around $21 million.
Blockers [TPACT] stars John Cena [JCENA], Leslie Maan [LMANN] and Ike Barinholtz [IBARI] as parents trying to prevent their daughters from losing their virginity. The R-rated raunchy comedy was also well-received at SXSW, however, the actors are untested as box office draws. The female-focused Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising debuted at $21.8 million two years ago for Universal and similar producers. Blockers could manage $19 million from 3379 locations.
Tyler Perry films typically tumble 55% or more during their second weekend, and Acrimony [SLMLF] won’t be the exception. A similar fall would put Acrimony at around $7.5 million.
Fox Searchlight expands Isle of Dogs [ISLDG] into 547 theaters. The stop-motion animated film secured $2.9 million in its second weekend from 165 theaters. Isle of Dogs could fetch another $5 million.
Annapurna serves up the PG-rated sports drama The Miracle Season [LVLLN] produced by the LD Entertainment, which targets the faith-based crowd. The Miracle Season may volley $3 million from 1707 theaters.
Jason Clarke [JCLAR] stars as Ted Kennedy in Chappaquiddick [CHPQD] based on the infamous 1969 accident. Entertainment Studio hopes to attract older moviegoers, but they should have kept to its original release date of last November. Chappaquiddick may run from 1560 locations with $3 million.
That’s the whisper on the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): RDYP1, JKRAS, EBLUN, AQPLC, TPACT, JCENA, LMANN, IBARI, SLMLF, ISLDG, LVLLN, JCLAR, CHPQD